Canadian Stocks Dip, Yet Show Weekly Gains

The S&P/TSX Composite index closed at 21,984 on Friday, slipping by 0.47% as investors analyzed recent economic data to assess the Canadian economy's health.

Preliminary data indicated a marginal increase of 0.1% in Canadian retail sales for February 2024, following a 0.3% decline in January.

Communication stocks led the decline with an average loss of 1.59%, followed by tech shares down 1.12%, and the heavyweight financial sector by 0.63%.

Conversely, healthcare stocks bolstered the index with average gains of 5.02%.

For the week, the TSX posted gains of 0.62%.